In April 1846, 21-year-old Sarah Graves set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of emigrants led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and 14 others set out for California on snowshoes and, over the next 32 days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors. This gripping narrative sheds new light on one of the most infamous events in American history.

"Daniel James Brown brings the myth to life, transforming faint history class memories into gripping reality."—BookPage